11-NT Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise from $1029. Calls on Provence, Nice, Florence, Rome, Ajaccio, Casablanca.

5-NT Royal Caribbean Western Caribbean Cruise from $459. Calls on George Town and Cozumel.

6-NT NCL Bermuda Cruise from $699. Round trip from Baltimore. Calls on St George.

7-NT Holland America Alaska Cruise from $623. Calls on Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay.

7-NT Princess Alaska Cruise from $563. Calls on Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay.

7-NT Carnival Exotic Eastern Caribbean Cruise from $749. Calls on Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, and Grand Turk.
]]> http://lastminutecaribbeandeals.com/2008/05/19/cruise-deals-for-51908/feed/ 0 http://lastminutecaribbeandeals.com/2008/05/16/get-someone-else-to-pay-for-your-vacation/ http://lastminutecaribbeandeals.com/2008/05/16/get-someone-else-to-pay-for-your-vacation/#comments Fri, 16 May 2008 20:38:45 +0000 John http://lastminutecaribbeandeals.com/?p=59 The great folks over at TravelHacker have posed a great article on getting other people to pay for your vacation. The article lists some great ideas which include volunteering, working while traveling, learning, and the free stuff.

Personally I like the idea of volunteering and there are actually sites that talk about this – very cool! On the free side there is a site called Couch Surfing which connects you with others who love to travel and you can work out an arrangement to stay with them.

Anyway there are tons of great tips – check out 50 ways to get other people to pay for your vacation

The Christmas holiday usually involves crowded shopping malls, gift wrapping, and plenty of family. Why not do something different this year and take a Caribbean cruise? We are less than a month away from Christmas and now is a perfect time to visit the Caribbean (when isn’t it a perfect time?). Carnival Cruise Lines has great rates right now in Caribbean cruises for December and January. Giving a cruise as a Christmas gift is also a great idea for the person who has everything and a flexible schedule.

If you are not comfortable booking a cruise online, Carnival has an amazing reservations staff who can walk you through the entire process. They are very helpful with answering questions and helping make decisions on cruise planning.  They can even help you find the cheapest price based on cabin availability.

This past weekend, the weather turned pretty cold here in Florida which made me think.. It’s time to plan the next mini-vacation. One place that has been on my list for years has been St. Kitts. When I first moved to Florida a friend of mine recommended St. Kitts to me as “the best island in the Caribbean”. I’m not ready to claim any island as my favorite yet until I’ve seen them all. So, what is it about St. Kitts that is so special?

The first thing that I noticed is that American Airlines will soon be offering non-stop flights to St. Kitts from Miami and San Juan. Delta will also begin flying non-stop to St. Kitts from Atlanta in February. That fact alone puts St. Kitts pretty high on the list. When I take a mini-vacation the last thing I want to do is spend a day hopping from one airport to another. The quicker I get there the better. If flying isn’t an option, there are several cruise ships that pull into Port Zante. Unfortunately the Port Zante website doesn’t keep updated with the Cruise Ship Schedules but I was able to find that Carnival Destiny and Carnival Victory make weekly stops in St. Kitts. On occasion the huge Queen Mary 2 also makes a stop as well. St. Kitts also estimates that cruise travel will increase as much as 70% in 2008.

If St. Kitts is a bit out of reach for your next Caribbean Vacation, Travelocity is currently running specials on other Caribbean destinations.

For me, I’m going to do more research on St. Kitts. Here are a couple of books I’ve picked up about St. Kitts and Nevis:

Antigua, Barbuda St. Kitts & Nevis Alive (Antigua, Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis Alive!)
St Kitts: Cradle of the Caribbean

Technorati Tags: St Kitts, Port Zante,

For anyone living in the Northeast, Bermuda is only 580 miles from Cape Hatteras and 590 miles from Martha’s Vineyard. In fact, this weekend is the 20th Annual World Rugby Classic. If Rugby isn’t your thing, you can check out this interactive map of Bermuda for other fun things to do.

If Bermuda sounds good to you, there are several vacation packages currently available. You can get great discounts at 9 Beaches, Coco Reef, Grape Bay Beach Hotel, Grotto Bay Beach Resort, and Surf Side Beach Club. Check out some of the great Bermuda Deals.

Carambola Beach Resort – St. Croix

3 nights starting at $509 per person – must book before October 19th.

Travel between 12/1/2007 – 12/20/2007

7 nights starting at $589 per person

Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort and Spa – St. Thomas

3 nights starting at $509 per person – must book before October 15th.

Travel between 11/2/2007 – 11/12/2007

3 nights starting at $669 per person

Barcelo Costa Cancun

Travel between 10/16/2007 – 11/30/2007
10% Spa discount & Unlimited complimentary Golf

5 nights starting at $539 per person

Travel between 1/2/2008 – 1/31/2008
Unlimited complimentary Golf

5 nights starting at $769 per person

Sunscape Puerto Aventuras Resort

Travel from 10/27 – 12/20

4 nights all inclusive – including airfare

Prices start at $299

Wyndham Nassau Bahamas

4 nights with Airfare starting at $299

Check out even more deals here:

$299 to the Caribbean & Mexico

How about an Aruba vacation for as little as $589 including airfare? La Cabana Villas Aruba is offering 5 nights with airfare from $589 (travel now till December 15th) or $649 (travel 1/1/08 – 1/31/08).

You can also save an additional $50 by using the coupon code “ARUBA50″.

Aruba on Sale From $569 + Extra $50 Off